Death Proof (2007)

Any Quentin Tarantino movie sparks my interest. The news that he was working with Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn / Sin City) to create a double feature Grindhouse presentation was great news. Sadly due to under performing in US box office terms, the film was split from 2 movies back to back to two movies released on their own. I was very disappointed i wasn't going to get to see the Grindhouse experience. Slightly let down i still had high hopes for the experience of seeing a QT film in the cinema

Quentin Tarantino's homage to the grindhouse comes in form of Death Proof, and to be honest, its a mixed bag. Their is a sense of originality and style that always comes across in QT's work that cannot be denied and its no different here. Kurt Russell delivers a cool, calm, collected performance as Stunt Man Mike. Played with a slight self awareness of its core material (being a little over the top lets be honest) it adds a extra level to the film. The scene where he picks up his first victim, pam is very creepy and well pulled off. Its scary enough and provides some genuine shocks. This film is basically split into two parts following travels of 2 sets of women and their run-ins with Stunt Man Mike. Personally i found the first half much more compelling. Arlene, Shanna and Julia i felt i was more interested in their characters than the second group. With hints of Arlene's insecurity, Julia false confidence and Shana's fun loving attiude porvided some of the better wirtting in this film in terms of actual character development. Even a small moment in which julia calls pam "a skinny little bitch" even without knowing her as she's sitting at the bar, and arlene obivious jealousy when she sees pam talking to mike, adds a level of character to the film, an almost high school popular girls against the unpopular girl thing going on. The second group, consists of women who work within film (a character plot i found pretty smug) . Character development came here in form of pretty pointless stories told by the group about their past rather than any actual emotional level within them.

The second half however does contain the big car chase set piece, which is as people say, very engaging and thrilling. The cinetography is fantastic and keeps you on the edge of your seat, however i can't help but feel if i cared a bit more about the characters, i'd be a little more near the edge of my seat than i was. The character twist near the end was very well excuted and added greatly to the enjoyment of the overall film. I was suprised how well Quentin Tarantino took to the action / horror genre especially during the chase scenes as they are brilliantly directed.

However in the bounderies of Grindhouse this film can't help but fall short. Having seen Planet Terror recently i can say that this, well, its really a Grindhouse film. Planet terror went balls out (quite literally in parts.) on the grindhouse style. With not only dirt and burn effects but the overall picture looked tired and warn. However Death Proof was WAY too polished and at times felt like he forgot what tthis film was meant to be. it was like "damn i better throw in a slight line in the picture there" because rest of it is crisp clear with even stylistic black and white effects follwed by super bright colour. Bit of a let down when you think of Grindhouse style it was meant to be.

All in All there is a level of qaulity that cannot be denied, Kurt Russell is fantastic, as is the first group of ladies. The chase scenes are as thrilling as it gets and there are moments of shock and engaging characters. However, it does become wordy, it at times descends into a big "in joke". I wish QT had let go a little in terms of his film making and went along with grindhouse a little more (The entire second half is picture perfect..what?! ) . I do recommend, but not as much as i would of hoped. However, the fact that it lets down on the grindhouse style and that i feel QT just ended up making another QT movie, it's still a engaging watch for the most part and up there with the better films of this year